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By Mark Kilmer Posted in Elections — Comments (27) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Sunday, April 30, 2006.

Dick Durbin was on Tim Russert's panel on MTP. Durbin refused to share a laugh about Katie Couric contributing nothing of value to our economy, and Energy Secretary Sam Bodman tried to explain supply, demand, and profits to Russert. (As has been said, so much for pathos.)

WH Chief of Staff Josh Bolten told host Chris Wallace on FNS that he was there to "refresh, re-energize" the Administration. He suggested that the President wanted to "leave a legacy" of starting the process toward weaning Americans from "foreign oil."

On TW, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused the Iranian mullahs of "playing a game" with the international community regarding its nuclear ambitions. Later on TW, Chuckie Schumer demanded action be taken against OPEC and American oil companies. He also asked for a Manhattan Project to reduce our dependence on oil. Fmr. Senator Bennett Johnston, Democrat of Louisiana, suggested that Hezbollah would raise our gas prices to $6.00/gallon if we bombed Iran.

On FTN, Rice got into an argument with host Bob Schieffer over whether the Iraqi army disintegrated or was abolished by President Bush. He also obsessed over the Star Spangled Banner in Spanish (the gimmicky Nuestro Himno), trying to see if Secretary Rice would say something outrageous.

Next on FTN, Maria Cantwell, Washington's campaigning Democrat Senator, spouted off about price gouging while Alaska's Lisa Murkowski suggested we explore and drill more domestically, off the coastal shelf and in ANWR.

On LE, Rice told host Wolf Blitzer that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said things which just aren't spoken "in mixed company." Wolf pressed her about admitting lots and lots of mistakes, and she said that was the job of studying in the future, "when I'm back at Stanford." That's her plan, evidently.

And the FNS "Power Player of the Week" was, of course, Tony Snow.

Read on the for the show-by-show report.

RUSSERT AND THE PRICE OF GASOLINE. Host Tim Russert's guests on NBC's Meet the Press: Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, American Petroleum Institute Pres. & CEO Red Cavaney, CNBC’s Jim Cramer, famed Nazi hunter Dick Durbin, and author/analyst Daniel Yergin.

Russert had onscreen a poll, and 45% of Americans surveyed are ticked about $3.00/gallon gas, more than are concerned about Iran with nukes. The same survey showed that 37% of those surveyed blame BIG OIL for the high price. That is the same as those who blame oil-producing countries and who blame President Bush combined. Russert asked Bodman why the prices were so high.

Secretary Bodman explained that gas prices have gone up because oil prices have gone up. He said that the suppliers have been unable to meet the demand, and this is a symptom of the economy doing so well. The second piece, he said, were external factors such as seasonal change and alterations in types of fuel. He sees two to three years before suppliers will be able to meet demand. Russert asked Bodman if the oil companies were exploiting the situation, and Bodman said that the President is having the justice department look into it.

Russert asked Dick Durbin, the famed Nazi hunter, why gasoline prices have risen 60-cents in one month. Durbin said: "Two things." He blamed oil companies taking profit, $1,000 profit for every household in the country. He complained about the retirement packages of oil company execs. He blamed President Bush's energy policy. We weren't prepared to make the transition in energy, he snapped. Russert pointed out that Durbin had voted to convert to ethanol, and Durbin excused himself on the grounds of ethanol being "homegrown."

Russert put on the screen something Jim Cramer had told Don Imus last Tuesday, that someone should investigate the Department of Energy for switching to ethanol with no clue about mixing ethanol into gasoline. Cramer said that everyone knew that such mixing would be difficult, but we did it anyway without any idea. Bodman replied that ethanol is easily blended with gasoline and is expanding in its availability. The problem, he said, was transportation of ethanol from the Midwest to major metropolitan areas.

Russert wondered why he hadn't planned for transportation, and Bodman replied that this is done and done well by the private sector. David Yergin said that we were not an island. He said that we're missing 2-million barrels a day and the Iraq war is making the price go up. Cavaney said that they don't send their employees to danger zones, so the Iraqis have not yet been trained to harvest oil. Russert brought up Paul Wolfowitz saying that reconstruction would be paid for by oil revenue. Bodman promised improvement.

Russert quoted Hastert and Frist in a letter to President Bush asking the FTC to investigate gasoline price gouging. Cavaney said that this is what politicians do, and that they've been investigated in the past and nothing was found.

Agreeing with Durbin, Russert attacked Exxon's earnings. Cavaney said that, yes, the profit was high, "but not for the size of the company." He pointed out that national oil companies, owned by foreign governments, were earning more, and oil company profits as a percentage were in line with everything else.

Russert attacked Exxon for not looking into alternate fuels while giving out all sorts of perks to their executives. Cavaney said that oil companies in the U.S. have invested 73% of the total U.S. investment in alternative energy. Their job, as he sees it, is to provide us with energy of any type.

Russert asked Bodman why, if supply is down and demand is up, there is profit earned. Bodman tried to explain -- "Now think about this, Tim, play it out." Russert said that this was a decision of the oil companies. Bodman explained that the oil traders determine the price. Russert rambled about big oil and collusion.

Cramer pointed out that we have "a huge refinery problem" in this country, which he put on the shoulders of local governments: "No one wants a refinery next to them." He talked of salaries of oil executives based on what they produce for the economy. Lee Raymond of Exxon creates a lot and earns a lot, which Cramer thinks is fair. He mentioned Katie Couric making $85,000/day and producing nothing for our economy. Russert deadpanned about millions of viewers of the Today program: "You leave Katie alone!"

Everyone but Dick Durbin shared a hearty laugh. Instead of sharing in the jollity, Durbin spat: "Am I the only one at this desk who sees profit taking as a problem? I understand the laws of supply and demand..." The Senator was out of his league on this panel, and I'm not sure why he was on it. He does not sit on the Senate Energy Committee, for instance, but he does represent a State wherein corn is grown. Illinois was no. 2 behind Iowa in the production of Ethanol. I assume Tom Harkin couldn't make it, and Chuck Grassley is a Republican, so an outgunned Dick Durbin was left to prattle this morning.

JOSH BOLTEN ON FNS. FOX News Sunday host Chris Wallace's guest was White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, who when seated at the FNS table, resembles Bill Sammon. But that's not the point. The point is, can he help the President's image? That's what Wallace asked him, and he said that he doesn't think he can help that much -- doesn't believe in the "Bolten Bounce" -- but his job is to put together a team for the President. A change in policy? No, says Bolten: "refresh and reenergize."

Wallace pulled a clip of President Bush saying in 2004: "We will not play politics with the strategic oil reserve." With this latest release from the reserve, which will have minimal real effect on the price of oil, Wallace asked, wasn't the President playing politics? Bolten answered no, they're merely halting scheduled deposits to the strategic reserve: "It's a modest step" towards relieving a problem which has been growing for "many years, decades." Wallace asked how much the price would dip, and Bolten said that it would be "modest." He talked also of relaxing the environmental regs covering fuel mixes and other things which could help in the "longer term."

It is legacy. Bolten said that "we need to leave a legacy" of reducing our dependence on "foreign sources of oil." That conjures hopeful images of domestic drilling, breaking the backs of the radical "environmental" special interests.

On Iraq, the only way we lose is if we lose our will, said Bolten in a familiar manner..

Karl Rove has not had his wings clipped, Bolten said, and has "one of the best policy minds" in the country. He'll now be concentrating on strategy.

Bolten said that contrary to all the talk of "tax breaks for the TOP 10%," the President had made the tax code "more progressive" than he had found it, pointing out that before his changes, the TOP 10% paid 64% of all taxes; after Bush's tax changes, they pay 66%.

Wallace intoned that the President has a reputation for not wanting to hear bad news. Is Bolten prepared to deliver it to him. Bolten said that he is, and that the President values hearing points of view that are different from what he thinks. However, the President is "very much a CEO," and his word is final.

Presidential nicknames? Bolten says the President calls him "Yosh," he thinks for "Josh," and a few things which are "unrepeatable" but that he'd share with Wallace during a break.

Bolten is not a "morning person," he said, but he arrives at the office at 6a to be prepared for the President, who arrives at 6:45a.

Finally, answering Wallace's question, Bolten disclosed that Bo Derek was friend of the Administration. He would not go into details of any personal relationship, but he met her when they were working on the 2000 campaign. He praised her articulation.

SECRETARY OF STATE RICE ON TW. Host George Stephanopoulos first spoke with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on ABC's This Week this week. The Secretary thinks Iran is "playing a game," rejecting proposals then suddenly appearing to reconsider when it looks as if action will be taken against them. She wants the mullahs to come clean, stop enrichment.

Steph played a clip of Colin Powell's interview with the Brits' ITV's Jonathan Dimbleby interview show; Powell argued that Iran has decided that they can "accept whatever sanctions come their way." Rice said that this belongs before the IAEA, not the UNSC, but said that they might have to go with a Chapter 7 resolution,
which she described as an action which "compels behavior" from the Iranian mullahs. (No, she did not mention mullahs. It's an editorial thing.)

(Of note, Dimbleby, who interviewed Powell for ITV, is quitting his Sunday politics show later this year.)

Steph wanted to know what would "trigger" the "next step" which would bring home 40,000 of our troops. Secretary Rice argued that we'll see what the Iraqis are ready to do for themselves, noting that they had secured the highway between the Green Zone and the airport "in some ways, better than we did."

CHUCKIE AND BENNETT ON TW. Steph's next guests were Chuck Schumer and oil lobbyist (former Senator, D-Louisiana) Bennett Johnston to talk about the price of oil and gas. Johnston said it was a supply and demand thing, and that the price would go down. Schumer argued that we should take action against OPEC and the five major oil companies. Steph argued that the oil company mergers cause higher prices.

Johnston urged Chuck to help keep the U.S. from "rattling sabers at Iran." Why? Because, he said, Hezbollah would give us $100/gallon crude oil and $6.00/gallon gasoline if we bombed Iran. He did not address, despite Steph's weak question, a nuclear-armed Iran.

Schumer declared that we need a "Manhattan Project" for alternative fuels, adding that the Administration believes that what is good for Exxon is good for the country. He wants to engage, he said, in some "old-fashioned trust busting."

Johnston recalled having voted for a windfall profits tax against oil companies [Jimmy Carter's] which turned out to have been a terrible mistake and had to be repealed.

RICE AND BOB ON FTN. Secretary Rice's next stop, "just back on Iraq," was on CBS' Face the Nation, with Bob Schieffer. He first confronted her with Colin Powell's contention on ITV that he had urged a "much larger force" be sent to Iraq for peacekeeping. Is that what Rice remembered? Rice said the President received advice from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and they had said that the plan would work. She didn't remember what specifically Powell recommended. Schieffer said that hindsight had proven Powell right, and Rice said that the Iraqis were willing to take more control.

Rice pointed out that after the war, the Iraqi army "disintegrated." There will be time to look back, she argued, but we now have to be ready to move forward. Schieffer declared that the United States disbanded the Iraqi army. Rice said that the order came from us, but the Iraqi army had "melted" on its own.

Schieffer said that our troops were dying and the Iraqis were failing, so where does Rice see progress? Rice argued that the political process is progressing, and everyone knew it would be difficult to create a free society in what once was a totalitarian system. "The violence is accompanied by a political process" that is moving forward, she insisted.

Schieffer quoted the Iranian oil minister as declaring that the U.N. wouldn't impose sanctions because that would mess with oil prices. Rice pointed out that Iran does not want to be isolated from the international community, and if Iran didn't fear sanctions, why would they be scrambling to prevent them.

Schieffer wanted to know why the Russians and the Chinese (PRC) weren't helping out. Secretary Rice said that they were helping, and that they also faced the question of credibility.

Schieffer asked her about immigration and the Star Spangled Banner sung in Spanish. He asked Rice how she felt about this "as a musician." She answered that she'd heard the Star Spangled Banner sung in a number of ways and that we had to have a "comprehensive" immigration policy, recognizes both the economic situation and the need for border security. Schieffer asked her again about the Spanish version of the national anthem, saying that she was "dodging the question." She answered that she'd heard rap versions, jazz versions, etc., and such weren ot as important as a comprehensive immigration policy.

I don't know why Schieffer wanted to make news with Nuestro Himno, which is essentially a gimmick.

MURKOWSKI, CANTWELL, and SCHIEFFER. On FTN, Schieffer next spoke to Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington).

Schieffer wanted to know what could be done about the rising gas prices. Senator Murkowski said that "we've had a failed energy policy in the country for decades." Congress, she said, cannot repeal the laws of supply and demand. They have to decrease fuel consumption and look at "sensible" exploration and drilling in ANWR and off the coastal shelf. Schieffer said that this was long term and suggested that Murkowski was conceding that we could do nothing in the short term. Murkowski suggested inflating our tires.

Cantwell, who could be given the hook by Washington's voters this fall, said that people are being gouged at the gas pumps, everyone is being ripped off, and we have to address price gouging with a "new federal statute." She wants to regulate speculation, closing loopholes "created by Enron." She argued that ANWR drilling would reduce gasoline prices by a penny in a decade.

Murkowski stressed focusing on the domestic supply. Cantwell said that real domestic supply was plant-based ethanol product. Murkowski noted that the windfall profit tax had failed under Jimmy carter, while Cantwell urged a bill to punish price gouging.

RICE ON LE. Blitzer led with Powell's assertion that he had told the President to go into Iraq with more forces. Rice said that the President had military advisors who told him what they needed, he listened to everyone, "and he made the decision on that basis." The Joint Chiefs signed off on it. She did not "remember specifically" what Powell had said. Wolf tried then to blame it on Generals Franks, Abizaid, and Casey. The President, Rice explained, had asked "time and time again" if we had the troops we needed, and he was told that the plan included enough. Wolf said that we did not have enough to keep the peace, and he challenged Rice to admit a mistake. Looking into his eyes, she did not. She spoke of moving forward.

Blitzer played Rice in England admitting "thousands of tactical errors" while supporting our strategy. He quoted Rumsfeld as pointing out that tactics have to be adjusted as circumstances change. Blitzer said that the military thought Rice was "belittling them" and their tactics. Rice pointed out that tactics could mean politics, not military. Her statement, she said, was symbolic, a figure of speech. When the job is finished, we will be able to go back and review and learn. "When I'm back a Standford," she said, they'll be able to look at it.

Blitzer asked Rice if she loses sleep because we didn't trust the UN when it turns out that there were no WMD. Rice explained that "we were still in a state of suspended-war" with Saddam. She said that you do not "make decisions in hindsight." Wolf asked her if she regretted the decision to invade Iraq. She pointed out that "it was absolutely the right decision to remove this threat in the world's most volatile region."

Wolf quoted Mowaffak al-Rubaie's timetable for foreign forces withdrawing from Iraq, which see foreign forces gone from Iraq by the middle of 2008. Rice agreed that the Iraqi forces were "getting better," and as they get better, "we'll be able to do less." She pointed out that the Iraqis realize that they're not ready yet.

Wolf asked Rice if the Iraqis were going to do anything to dismantle the militias. She pointed out that despite the nay-sayers, the militias were disbanding in Iraq, we were losign the "warlords."

Blitzer continued his ongoing tirade against Moqtada al Sadr as the enemy of the people. He is amazed that we deal with him after he was once branded a bad guy. (He recently blamed Rumsfeld for the sectarian violence in Iraq.) Wolf wanted to know if he should be arrested, and Rice explained that things are "going to take place in the context of Iraqi conciliation."

Blitzer asked Rice about Iran, and she noted that the Iranian regime was going to continue to isolate itself. The world cannot tolerate a nuclear Iran. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "represents the Iranian regime very badly," and speaks things "which would never be said in polite company."

Blitzer talked of the Darfur region and asked if the President still thinks that the government thre is engaging in genocide. She said that the United States has been in the lead in combating the crisis, "the most active... of the countries." She added that "we need more help from the international community," specifically mentioning "China [PRC] and Russia."

Wolf pointed out that TIME magazine has declared Secretary Rice to be "master of the universe." She said that she doesn't feel like master of the universe, but Blitzer insisted that she was because the glossy had said so.

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Have at it.